I actually have one of those buried boundry things...used it when I lived in town. I have not had luck with it? My border collie would run then when it was abou to get her she jumped high enough to clear it...funny as all get out, watching a dog Jump an invisible fence. Then our Pit would just tolerate the shock, yelp a it and go on.
That was my experience as well. We had buried invisible fence already on the property when we arrived and I don't care for them. We tried a LGD so turned on the fence and trained her to it over a period of about two weeks. For another couple of weeks she stayed within the boundaries. Then, probably while chasing something, she discovered that if she runs through it fast enough the shock is only momentary - and worth it to be free. So from then on, any time she felt like it, she'd run through it and roam to her heart's content. Coming back was apparently NOT worth the shock so when she was ready to return, she'd sit on the other side of the fence until we turned it off and led her back through. The problem is, once they've learned that, its almost impossible to get them to respect an invisible fence. We tried turning it up to no avail. And we know she was feeling it because she'd let out a little yelp every time she crossed. We ultimately had to rehome her because we couldn't keep her home and we were running the risk of alienating our neighbors who were getting really tired of her running through their properties, eating the cantelopes out of their veggie gardens and so on.
The other downside to invisible fence is while it
might keep your dogs in, it won't keep other dogs and critters out. I think these reasons are why rescue organizations require a physical fence rather than an invisible fence before they'll let you adopt a dog from them.
Hey Cherwill. I used to build garden ponds in my side business. I used EDPM Rubber. It's pricy because it has to be a fish grade for fish, but you could buy rubber roofing material in place of it for gardening. It is like 45 mil thick and heavy enough it will stay in place. It will last 50 years in a pond so I am sure it's life would be very close to that in a garden. You can cut it to size so you could cut it just wide enough for between the rows. You wouldn't have to stake it down. And at the end of the season you could just roll up your pieces and store them until the next spring. I suppose if there were a really sharp rock you could penetrate it by walking on it a lot but it's not going to rip apart either. Now that I think about that I would use some of mine for the same, but mine is the fish grade kind and some day I may want to build another pond or two. I think the roofing companies also sell it in different colors if you didn't want black. Could be worth checking into. The cardboard worked well for me last year. This year I would be lucky to have the time to even put some down.
I love that idea. Where do you get hold of this stuff?
On a sad note. My old Sheltie has been having some health issues lately. He is going on 11. His eye sight started to deteriorate a couple of years ago and now his hearing is slowly gone as well. He has been vomiting on and off these last 2 weeks and recently can't quite control his bladder. He started having non-cancerous cysts on his chest and then I found a much bigger one on his rib. His vet did a smear test and concluded that it was non-cancerous. I'm not sure if it is just him getting old or what. I'll be taking him to the vet this week to see if maybe he just has minor infection that can be fixed. He still enjoys life but he doesn't tolerate the GPs when he has to go outside to do his business. He would much rather stay inside and sleep all day. I will be keeping a close eye on him to make sure his quality of life is not compromised. I brought him home after I lost my Schnauzer over 10 years ago, right after my daughter was born. He is my baby and it will be a sad day the day he has to cross the rainbow bridge.
So sorry to hear about your Sheltie. It is never easy when these family members we love, grow old and leave us. <<HUGS>>
I've had a couple of noteworthy things happen with my birds in the last day or so. My crested turkey has been "so-so" about being a mother all year now. She went broody but when, after 4 weeks sitting, I tried to give her poults, wanted nothing to do with them. And then decided she wasn't broody any more anyway. So for a couple of months she went back to just being a turkey. Then, four weeks ago, she decided to have another stab at it. Since she was sitting on the floor of the coop, I figured the eggs would get contaminated so I put them in the incubator. A week later she said "Nah, this sitting thing is not for me, not in the middle of summer" and off her nest she got. By then the eggs were developing and I didn't want to throw them out so I let them develop and they hatched yesterday.
I didn't want to set up a brooder - not with at least half a dozen broody chickens - so I slipped the poults under a proven mother cochin and held my breath. I've had chickens react to poults like they are aliens and worried that when they emerged making whoot-whoot instead of cheep-cheep sounds, that she would peck them to death. To my delight and gratitude, she swooned over them and is now being an excellent mother to them, in a broody pen by herself.
While checking on the new family frequently yesterday, I saw something in a corner of the chicken yard that looked like part of a dead bird. I walked over to investigate to find it part of a very-much-alive bird. My crested turkey. Who has apparently been laying a secret clutch. I knew she slept on the roosts in the coop the night before so figured she was fixing to go broody and sure enough, yesterday was apparently the egg that made the magic number and she slept on her "hidden" nest last night. I guess this time I'll let her be to do her thing. She has picked a great location that is in shade most of the time and is within the chicken yard so she'll benefit from the protection of the dogs at night. And, since its not the coop floor, the eggs stand a good chance of not getting contaminated.
And, in yet more turkey news, while doing my chores last night, DS came out to give me some good news. Last year I sold a trio of Royal Palms to a lady who turned out to be the mother of one of his school chums. He just heard yesterday, via said school chum, that her mother took one of "my" turkeys to a show and won champion!!! I am so stoked!!! DS asked me if I'd ever considered showing and I really have not - I'm just not interested in that side of things. But I'm thrilled to know that the birds have that potential.
